Shillong, Aug. 31: The United Democratic Party (UDP) today announced its intention to have an alliance with "like-minded" political parties for the 2018 Meghalaya Assembly polls.
The decision to fish for an alliance with other parties was taken at the party's central executive committee meeting held here.
Announcing the decision, UDP general secretary and legislator Jemino Mawthoh said the party has formed a "special committee" headed by party chief Donkupar Roy, which would explore the possibility of aligning with other "like-minded" political entities.
"Since we are not averse to aligning with other like-minded parties, the special committee will be consulting with such parties. The committee will also work on the modalities for such an alliance," Mawthoh told reporters after the meeting.
Apart from the UDP, the other regional players in Meghalaya politics include the Hill State People's Democratic Party (HSPDP) and the Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM). Besides, the UDP could also explore the possibility of an alliance with the National People's Party (NPP) in the Garo hills.
The BJP, following its win in the Assam Assembly polls earlier this year, is also organising itself in various constituencies as a step towards preparing for the 2018 electoral showdown.
While not spelling out whether the UDP would opt for a pre-poll or a post-poll alliance, Mawthoh said the committee would look into the matter. "It (question of alliance) will also depend on the reciprocity of other parties," he added.
The other members of the special committee include Mawthoh, UDP working presidents Bindo M. Lanong and Paul Lyngdoh, and UDP leaders Moonlight Pariat, B.G. Momin and L.C. Momin.
Besides, the UDP today constituted a 15-member state election committee, which would select the candidates for the 2018 elections.
"The members belong to different districts of the state, and our intention is to speed up the process of selection of candidates. However, we will not be stressing only on the ability of the candidate to win, but also on quality," he added.
Although the party has stressed on the need to speed up the process of selecting its candidates, Mawthoh said no time frame has been set for choosing the candidates.
Moreover, the UDP decided to come out with a "vision document" for the state, which will reflect the voice from the "grassroots".
